Sit and roll unicycle



Jan. 12, 1960 M. H. DOUD ETAL 2,920,904,

SIT AND ROLL UNICYCLE Filed May 27, 1958 w Sm INVENTOR. Bryan A See/eyBY Mary H 0000 .\.Q A/IJ/ United States Patent fifice 2,920,904 PatentedJan. 12, 1960 This invention relates to improvements in toys and hasparticular reference to a toy which a child may ride.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a toy upon which achild sits, which toy may be propelled over a surface in any directionand with complete safety to the child.

A further object is to produce a toy which is novel in appearance, onewherein a child will not become injured through the ordinarymanipulation of the toy.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numbers are employed .to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the preferred form of our toy;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of our toy;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailed view of one of the caster wheels andits spring mounting;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed view showing the brakingmechanism.

Children are very fond of toys upon which they can ride, particularlyany new form of toy of this character.

Applicants have therefore devised a rubber ball upon which the childsits on a superimposed framework and then propels the ball in anydesired direction, preferably by leaning in the direction it is desiredto go, or by manipulating pedals, thus pivoting the ball in thedirection desired.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration isshown a preferred embodiment of our invention, the numeral 5 designatesa ball which is preferably inflated or made of a resilient materialwhich accomplishes the same efiect.

In Fig. 1 we have shown a shaft 6 extending through the ball and havingpedals 7 and 8. This shaft serves to support a frame designated as awhole by the numeral 2 9, consisting of a plurality of arms 12 extendingdownwardly from a seat plate 11 and terminating in open ends into whichare telescopically arranged casters 13. The free ends of the arms aresecured to a spacer ring arranged substantially parallel with thesupporting surface upon which the toy is rolled, while springs 14 serveto absorb any bouncing action when the casters engage the supportingsurface such as the highway as shown at A.

The seat has handles 16 and 17 which the child may grasp. A brake handleas shown at 18, which is pivoted as at 19 to the underside of the seat11, has a forked end 21 pressing downwardly on a fitting 22 which has abrake show 23 ridable on the outer surface of the ball 5.

A spring 24 normally keeps the brake out of engagement with the surfaceof the ball.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 2, the construction is identical,with the only difference being that we employ a ball having flat sides,thus making the whole structure more compact. We can eliminate thepedals entirely by forming a race within 'the frame of the device inwhich race the ends of the shaft 6 may travel.

In this case the entire propulsion is through the use of the feet on thehighway, and the guidance is entirely by means of leaning in thedirection desired.

It will thus be seen that our invention accomplishes all of the objectsabove set forth. It is to be understood that the form of our inventionherewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example ofthe same and that various changes relative to the material, size, shapeand arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claim.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

A toy comprising a resilient ball-like supporting member having a shaftextending axially therethrough, a frame supported on said shaft, saidframe having a seat mounted thereon at a point above the vertical axisof said ball, a ring secured to said frame at a point slightly above thesupporting surface on which said ball rolls, casters carried by saidring and adapted to engage said supporting surface when said frame istipped, means for rotating said ball, and braking means carried by saidseat and engaging said ball to stop rotation of said ball.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS470,841 Madden Mar. 15, 1892 550,399 Anderson Nov. 26, 1895 1,989,573Von Loutzkoy Jan. 29, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS 11,177 Great Britain of 1895

